With the beginning of a new year, many of us spend time reflecting and making goals and thinking of how we want to change and be better.

I love self-help books. I find them uplifting, motivating, and fascinating. As a 6th grader, I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and reread it several times as I grew up. Since then I’ve read a variety of personal development books and while you can usually glean something from every book, there are definitely some that stand out more than others! And one of my favorites is one I read at the beginning of this year- Atomic Habits by James Clear.

There’s a good chance you’ve heard of this book, as it’s been quite popular lately! Whether this is your first or fifth time hearing about this book- I hope you have read it or plan on reading it! It’s such a great look at habits- which is ultimately what helps us achieve our goals!

A few things that stuck out to me:

One: James Clear talks about when preparation turns to procrastination- we just need to act! I love this. I am TOTALLY guilty of this. I am such a planner- I love laying out all the details and creating lists and charts and plans and coming up with the “perfect” plan before execution. Now granted, some preparation can be super beneficial and helpful, especially when making a goal. But as he points out- it can get to the point where we are spending more time prepping and putting off the actual goal- instead of just starting and making progress! Make a goal, and come up with a basic plan- but then you need to actually act! Even if your plan is not perfect and you don’t have everything set up perfectly- set a deadline and stick to it!

Two: When creating a new habit, you’re going to have slip-ups. The first time, it’s an accident. The second time, it’s the beginning of a new habit. This is SO TRUE, and so important to recognize! If I miss one day of exercising, I can easily start up the next day. But when I miss two days of exercise, it’s much harder to pick it up that third day. And this would apply to any habit! Don’t let yourself miss more than once! Otherwise you’re just starting a new bad habit!

Third: To quote James Clear: “Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.” We can make all the goals we want, and while the good intention might be there, it will do nothing for us if we don’t have a good system in place! The key is making things as easy as possible in order for us to continue building a habit. If we want to exercise every morning, set out your workout clothes, or even sleep in them! If you’re trying to drink more water, use a water bottle you love and keep it readily accessible. In any habit you’re trying to create, think through the system, the choices and actions that lead you up to the successful execution of that habit, and remove as many obstacles as you can to make it as seamless and easy as possible to follow through with that habit!

Fourth: Another quote: “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.” Great things come from small things. I definitely saw this when I lost 40 pounds a few years ago. I had to be diligent, and progress was slow- and then suddenly it was like everything just melted off and I had reached my goal! With any goal, consistency is key. Nothing is going to change overnight. But those small actions we take every day have a huge impact. We may not see the impact every single day- but eventually, you will! It’s all about being consistent.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of all the good things in this book! I can’t recommend it enough, especially at this time of year if you’re trying to move forward with goals and make some real changes in your life! This book is a great tool for just that!

Good luck in all your New Year’s resolutions (or any time of year, for that matter!)!